Case Information
*1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF IOWA CEDAR RAPIDS DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, No. 19-CR-59 CJW-MAR vs. ORDER REGARDING MAGISTRATE JUDGE’S REPORT AND RAVEN DAMIEN MEADER RECOMMENDATION BURKHOW, CONCERNING DEFENDANT’S GUILTY PLEA Defendant.
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I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
On September 25, 2019, a forty-two count Second Superseding Indictment was filed against defendant. On January 17, 2020, defendant appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Mark A. Roberts and entered a plea of guilty to counts 1,8,9,10,12, and 29, of the Second Superseding Indictment. On January 17, 2020, Judge Roberts filed a Report and Recommendation in which he recommended that defen dant’s guilty plea be accepted. On January 21, 2020, defendant filed a waiver of objections to Report and Recommendation. The Court, therefore, undertakes the necessary review of Judge Roberts’ recommendation to accept defendant’s plea in this case.
II. ANALYSIS
Pursuant to statute, this C ourt’s standard of review for a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation is as follows:
A judge of the court shall make a de novo determination of those portions of the report or specified proposed findings or recommendations to which objection is made. A judge of the court may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge.
28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C). Where parties make no objections to a magistrate’s report and recommendati on, the Court reviews the magistrate’s report and recommendation for clear error. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A). Similarly, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 59(b) provides for review of a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation on dispositive motions, where objections are made, as follows:
The district judge must consider de novo any objection to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. The district judge may accept, reject, or modify the recommendation, receive further evidence, or resubmit the matter to the magistrate judge with instructions.
F ED . R. C RIM . P. 59(b)(3). [1]
In this case, defendant filed a waiver of objections to report and recommendation, and it appears to the Court upon review that Judge Roberts’ findings and conclusions are not clearly erroneous. Therefore, the Court ACCEPTS Judge Roberts’ Report and Recommendation of January 17, 2020, and ACCEPTS defendant’s plea of guilty in this case to counts 1,8,9,10,12, and 29, of the Second Superseding Indictment.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 21st day of January, 2020. ____________________________ C.J. Williams United States District Judge Northern District of Iowa
[1] United States v. Cortez-Hernandez , 673 F. App’x 587, 590 -91 (8th Cir. 2016) (per curiam), suggests that a defendant may have the right to de novo review of a magistrate judge’s recommendation to accept a plea of guilty even if no objection is filed. 2